Love/Hate's Barry Keoghan has revealed his difficult childhood made him more determined to succeed as an actor.

The up-and-coming star told how he was in and out of foster care as a child – but that didn’t stop him landing a part in the country’s biggest drama.

And the 21-year-old, who played cat killer Wayne in the hit RTE show, insisted it made him a stronger person.

Lizzie and Wayne break into Nidge's house

Barry told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I went through foster care. I lived with my nanny and auntie since I was 10. I went through foster care quite a lot.

“It’s not easy but it has made me who I am. I don’t go around complaining about it, I get on with it.

“My nanny and my auntie and my cousin have been really good to me. They took me in – me and my brother.”

Barry, from Dublin’s inner city, prefers to bring the “self experience” from his difficult upbringing to roles rather than fixating on the tough breaks.

He said: “People dwell on things but I would look at myself and you think you’re in a bad place – then you look at other people and realise I am OK.

“Every part you have to connect. You have to go to dark places, think of them as memories.

“Then there’s good parts, where you have to think of good memories.

“But for me I definitely reconnect and feel it. You can’t just play sad. You have to really get upset or angry for the day.

“If you hand out a bit of your soul, you’ll get people in the audience who are going to relate to that easily.”

Viewers were on the edge of their seat watching Barry’s character dramatically gun down a kitten in the first episode of Love/Hate’s latest season.

Wayne, played by Barry Keoghan

But, in his first sit-down interview, the actor admitted he was shocked by the impact it has had on people.

Barry said: “People now know me from Love/Hate. Some recognise you – you’re walking towards them and they’re a bit freaked out.

“And I’m completely the opposite [of Wayne], I’m not evil.

Cat in Love/Hate

“The outrage over the killing was crazy. I was away at the time and was being sent pictures of headlines.

“It was all mad attention and it was overwhelming. I didn’t think it would get that big of a reaction. The cat got a Twitter account.

“It was giving everyone abuse. It was a crazy few weeks after that.

“But it’s pushing me out there, big time, in the industry.”

However, Barry, whose character was shot dead by pal Glen, admitted the show has been a huge boost for his career but not his bank balance.

He added: “People see you in Love/Hate and they think, ‘That lad is rich’. But I used to think that. I would look at actors when I wasn’t in acting and think they are rich. But you have to survive and pay bills. It’s tough.

“But without sounding cheesy, I think money has to come second.

“I like putting someone else’s shoes on for six weeks – and even if it’s just for 10 seconds on screen – you forget yourself.

“We’re always trying to get back to that place where you almost forget yourself and think you’re that character. And it can be a relief to forget about your own self.” Barry, who stars in Irish film Stalker alongside Love/Hate actor Peter Coonan, wants to move on from playing inner-city roles.

“It’s about changing up your roles and that’s where the respect comes from.

“If you look at big actors – Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis – they all have completely different roles. I would love to follow in the path of Leonardo – he is my God. Well, if Daniel Day and Leonardo could have a baby son, somehow, I would like to be that baby.”

In Stalker, Barry stars as homeless teenager Tommy who is befriended by John Connors, a troubled and dangerous man who also lives on the street.

Barry revealed he and John wanted to make sure they became the characters.

He said: “Two weeks before the shoot me and Johnny would go into town and we’d just walk into shops. By the way we were dressed, you would see security guards looking at us and following us.

“We would also sit down in the middle of town, talking as if we were the characters and not break at all until we got home.”

Barry said that without Stalker director Mark O’Connor, who he worked with on Irish film Between The Canals, there’s no way he would have got into acting.

Asked about his break, he explained: “This is funny because I saw a notice in the shop near where I live.

“It sounds very cliched and cheesy but I took the number. And I was ringing it for two weeks. Finally, I got through to Mark and he was telling me he was doing a film but had to get funding first.

“So I kept ringing, we kept in touch, and I got a small part in Between The Canals. Then he gave me a small role in King Of The Travellers and now Stalker. He brought me into this crazy world.

Stalker is released in cinemas on February 26 and its premiere will be held at Movies@Dundrum.